This stunning view of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko shows what happens when its moves closer toward the Sun: it ejects gas and dust that gets left in its wake. And looks gorgeous, too.

The image of the 3 kilometer-wide comet was captured by the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft on April 15th, though it’s shown here in false color. 67P will continue to eject more and more gas and dust until August, when it reaches the point on its trajectory closest to the Sun—just a little farther out into the Solar System than our own planet Earth. [APOD]